Who I am.

I write about the landscape of grief, nature, and the wisdom of fools. The author of four books, my essays, poems, and reviews have been published in over 50 journals, including in the Huffington Post and Colorado Review. I’ve won the River Teeth Nonfiction Book Award, the Chautauqua and Literal Latte’s essay prizes, and my work has been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and named a notable by Best American Essays. My account of hiking in Yosemite to deal with my wife’s death, Mountains of Light, was published by the University of Nebraska Press. http://www.markliebenow.com.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Rumi's Stretcher

Last night I was wandering around the house, which is something I do now and then to get my bearings, when a line from Rumi’s “Zero Circle” came to mind: “Then a stretcher will come from grace to gather us up.” I don’t think Rumi was specifically addressing grief, but his words have useful insights.

The poem starts: “Be helpless, dumbfounded, / Unable to say yes or no.” 
This pretty much sums up our state of mind when grief begins. We no longer know what we think or feel, and we can’t make even simple decisions.

* If you would like to read the rest of this post, let me know and I’ll send it to you. *

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